


episode summaries are the worst

by fated_addiction



Category: GOT7, K-pop, Real Person Fiction, Red Velvet (K-pop Band), SM Entertainment | SMTown
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reality Show, F/M, Friendship, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-04
Updated: 2016-01-04
Packaged: 2018-05-11 19:49:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5639767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fated_addiction/pseuds/fated_addiction
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>The problem with being the second member of a group, let alone a girl group member, filming a show like We Got Married <strike>sort of</strike> is that there are all these insane expectations to live up to the first time because Joy is, like, borderline sociopathic with her charm and Seulgi is, uh, not.</i>
</p><p>If it were up to Seulgi, she'd just cook something. Seriously.</p>
            </blockquote>





	episode summaries are the worst

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea where this came from. I was sitting down to write something super angsty and then I didn't. It might be the snow. Or the fact that it's ridiculously cold outside. Or that I'm going to IKEA.
> 
> It's probably IKEA.

The problem with being the second member of a group, let alone a girl group member, filming a show like We Got Married ~~sort of~~ is that there are all these insane expectations to live up to the first time because Joy is, like, borderline sociopathic with her charm and Seulgi is, uh, not. It's a struggle to charm a paper bag, okay?

"I can't believe I'm doing this," she mutters to Wendy because, you know, solidarity and all. Variety is awkward for them both. But Wendy is wearing the most serene, cryptic expression on her face that she's ever seen and it's both concerning and weirding her out. Seriously.

"You're going to be okay." Wendy shoves a coffee into her hand. She fusses over her hair, scrunching up her nose like a good best friend, even though the stylist is making rounds and oh god, oh god what if this guy is like twenty THOUSAND years older than her and it's weird. "You're just nervous because you don't know who it is yet and no one's leaked your names before your episodes. It's like ..." Wendy scrunches her nose again. "Hmm," she says. "I don't know. I lost my train of thought."

Seulgi snorts and her shoulders drop. "Pep talks are so not your thing." She ducks when Wendy hits her, or tries to. Then turns and eyes the gigantic amount of balloons and streams, all which seem like they've been recycled from a drama. "And events," she sighs dramatically too, "are so not mine -- like, what do I do? Go up and hit him in the arm and go: hey oppa! You're cute. You're going to be my husband for awhile."

"Um. Yeah?" Wendy blinks. "And then go on a date and be adorable."

"I hate you." Seulgi knows she's sulking. They should have picked everyone else but her, she thinks. "I am not adorable."

Wendy laughs, curling her fingers around her braid again. She tugs and then drops an arm over her shoulders. "Yah." She pokes Seulgi's nose. "You're adorable. That's why the kids try and make you as angry as possible. You even have cartoon steam coming out of your ears sometimes."

"Still hate you," Seulgi mutters.

Wendy smiles. Her serene expression returns and the stylist is making her way over to them both.

"Just be you," she says.

This is the second problem, Seulgi thinks. She can't just be _you_.

It's about to get weird.

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, no one remembers that it's mid-January and the weather gets angry and real fast. Like epic amounts of snow piling out into the sidewalks and streets. Schedules are canceled. People generally stick to things that they can walk to and walk back home to the comfortable, warm corners of their house and bed, of course.

Seulgi, of course, has to go buy stationary.

"He's late," the PD apologizes for the sixteenth time. Of course, Wendy has long since left and she's already revised the balloon and streamers and the SURPRISE IT'S ME event at least twenty times since then. "He's coming from his drama."

"So he's an actor," she says, and suddenly the PD gets this weird glint in his eye. There's a camera in her face and she's gripping her bag of stationary like a lifeline. Seulgi narrows her eyes. "You're not going to tell me anything, are you?"

"Nope. Well, sort of," the PD laughs like it's a joke and Seulgi huffs, stepping away back to her own private hell of streamers and balloons.

She sits and stares for a moment, for what she decides is like the worst twenty minutes of television ever, until she goes and grabs a marker from another set hand. She pulls out her stationary, a stack of multicolored post-it notes, that she lines out and in front of her, first be color, then by pink, then by blue because she remembers that it's so not Valentine's Day and that'll be a disaster if she goes that route. So blue it is.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," she mutters, and so begins the painstaking process of writing something on sticky note after sticky note. 

_i'm worried_

This is what the first one says. It's the most honest. She doesn't have a face to whoever this guy is. So it's easy to write the words. Then the next one follows, and the next, like a row of dominos:

_i'm worried seriously what if you don't like me and then we have to pretend to like each other_

_your ideal type sounds boring and soul-less_

_i like adventure too_

_i'm so shy sometimes it hurts, to the point where i can hide it with a stupid, crude joke -- it makes my mom nuts. hi mom!_

It gets to the point that she's surrounded by all of them, at least four pads of notes, sitting the center when she finally gets the idea. She remembers weird things from the sheet of paper that their PD handed to her during first interviews, where it was like "He likes blue!" and "He's a leader!" or something stupid to that fact, but suddenly, she has about five staff members and her Manager Oppa helping her set this up.

"He's here!" 

The PD brightens. Someone tosses her hair again and takes her coffee away. (Jerk.) Her manager gives her the obligatory 'I love you but' thumbs up. (Also a jerk.) But neither of these things edge out the fact that her heart is racing, like actually racing in her throat, and she's sitting, cross-legged, wide-eyed, and about a million other things, surrounded by limp balloons, streamers, and cheap sticky notes.

Her palms are sweating and part of her, the shy, shy schoolgirl that wanted to sing, but didn't really know how to make herself go up, out, and audition because damn it, she's actually go, suddenly emerges to say hello. She's sure her eyes are getting wider by the second. There's music. The balloons are floating off, somewhere behind her.

Im Jaebum walks into the room with a rose and a sunny, wide smile.

And she's so, so screwed.

 

 

 

 

 

Spoilers: they've met before.

Not in the traditional sense. They don't have the same friends. Although, she's sure they could play the six degrees game, connect to each other somehow, and be fine. She finds him cold though, distant, even untouchable, although he's probably not like that, but she's sure he finds things about her annoying and obnoxious as well. They are going to class though; this is her first thought, her first _real_ thought, one that brings heavy feelings and confusion and mild irritation because if only someone could have spoiled this because SHE WOULD BE PREPARED for him.

"I think you could be a serial killer," she mutters, and then the camera is on them, a spotlight, and his amusement is more than clear as she sits there, shocked, mildly irritated, but mostly shocked to say the least.

He hands her the rose. His fingers brush the inside of her palm. Her hand sort of trembles and she takes it, eyeing it warily, then sulks a little as she tries to smile.

"Thanks," she says.

"You're welcome," he says back. Quietly too. Then he studies her openly. "You're pretty," he half-blurts, and she looks at him like he's lost it. "I mean," he says. "I'm sure you know." He rubs the back of his head. "I'm not really that great at this."

She shrugs, trying to be cool. She fails miserably: "You're pretty too."

The staff around them laughs, so she laughs, but her cheeks are bright red and she's hiding behind a hand. He steps forward, somewhat sympathetic, shrugging out of his jacket and sliding it over her shoulders. If she's surprised, he doesn't show that he knows. His fingers stretch and fall against the back of her neck and maybe, okay, maybe it's a little too intimate for the first time they _really_ meet. But she's flustered, awed, and feels really strange all of the sudden.

"Don't worry," he says. His gaze is bright and he grins a little. "We may be awkward, but we won't be boring."

Seulgi laughs. 

She can't fake that either.

 

 

 

 

 

Joy sits on her bed in the dorm.

It's hilarious and weird how wise her expression looks all of the sudden. She takes a handful of popcorn and pauses the movie, eyeing her carefully.

"Listen," she starts and the advice sort of spills out, much to Seulgi's dismay. "The two of you are going to be what you're going to be. Just think of it as, like, openly secretly dating... or well --" she pats her chin with a finger, "openly secretly arranged marriage dating? No. I don't know. Just remember it's better to be honest with each other than focus on making a show."

Seulgi sighs. She swallows too. "Wouldn't that just... you know, create issues?"

Joy shrugs.

"Isn't that just life?"

Joy still has Sungjae at the top of texting list. Seulgi doesn't get it. Maybe she's not supposed to. 

This is just before their third episode.

 

 

 

 

 

On principle, she stays away from the Internet. It's a terrifying place, she reasons, with cat memes and shopping sites that support her kitchenware habit, which even surprises her mother for whatever reason.

But their third date, if you could call it a date, results in him renting a kitchen so that they can play twenty questions and cook each other's favorite meals which, she thinks, in theory is really, really, cute. It's also getting easier to ignore the camera.

"So do you cook?" she asks, tying the apron for him. He laughs and smells really good. She's distracted by both things. Which makes her feel a little stupid.

"I can use a microwave," he replies. He flashes a lazy smile and she laughs. "My mom's really excited -- she hopes you'll teach me or something."

Seulgi grins. "I could..." She eyes the ingredients in front of her. "You know what? I will. Go wash your hands."

He laughs, like actually laughs, and obeys her as she moves to separate her ingredients. She's not thinking and a few strands of hair escape her braid, hitting her in the cheeks and eyes. She huffs and he comes over, leans into her, and pushes her hair behind her ear, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. She sort of freezes, then tries to smile.

"Erm."

"Sorry," he says, but he's not sorry. There's something about his expression that is different to her; they told her that he was kind of cold. She never really thinks of him that way and then sort of scolds herself: she can't really remember meeting him and just being put off, in the few times that they've had to meet as idols. "I don't want hair in my food," he teases her.

Seulgi is flustered and hits him. "Jerk," she mutters.

"You're cute," he says.

She wonders how easy this is for him. She blinks and shrugs it off into cutting a carrot. She tries and focus on the food, ordering him around the kitchen with easy. He's funny and charming, surprisingly so; she finds herself falling into the rhythm with him too.

"Dancing or singing," he asks, frowning over the stove. He's stirring the broth and she comes over, leaning over to see what's going on with him.

"Both," she says easily. Then she smirks. "Although when I was little, I wanted to be a police officer. I love crime shows."

Jaebum laughs. "You would."

"What does that even mean?" she shoots back, teasing him. Her eyes narrow and she holds up a spoon. "I'll have you know it's amazing television."

"Would you watch me if I did one?"

She blushes, looking away. "Probably," she answers. "If you were any good. I did see that internet series about aliens in love with you in it or whatever."

"Oh god." He groans and she laughs, delighted. It's totally boring, she thinks, the two of them standing over soup, her mother's recipe, but it's really nice. "That one doesn't count," he says. "I was obnoxious. Jinyoung was the cute one."

Seulgi rolls her eyes. "You're selling yourself short," she says dryly.

He snorts. "You're not really convincing me either."

She grins and blinks at him, feigning innocence. "I'm just being a good wife."

They both falter. She turns red. He rubs the back of his neck, laughing nervously. She can't even believe that the words just kind of stumbled out.

"Weird," she breathes.

"Yeah," he agrees. "This is weird."

They get their nickname this way.

The Awkward Couple, of course.

 

 

 

 

 

It barely registers, you know, the point where they fast-forward and it's not dating, but marriage, and there's an apartment that they sort of live together at with real neighbors, an elevator, and a supermarket two blocks away. They're not like the other couples: the ones that argue about adding stupid little things and photos and pet names and whatever. They're pragmatic and boring, which somehow makes people love them and root for them more.

"Confession," he says as she does the obligatory snoop through his suitcase. She laughs at his underwear, but doesn't pull it out and throws a sock at his head instead. "Seriously," he says, catching it. "Confession."

She shifts on her knees. "Okay, shoot."

Jaebum hesitates. "I like that you call me by my full name, you know." He shrugs and doesn't really look at her. It makes her pause and watch him quietly, fighting to ignore the smile that sort of threatens to breakout against her mouth. "It just makes this a little less weird, I guess. And make me like you even more."

She bites her lip hard. She doesn't know whether or not she should hide or laugh or smile the way she wants to. She does all three though, pulling out a photo of his family, the one he showed her earlier, and hugs it against her chest.

"You make me feel kind of fluttery and stuff." She bites her lip again. "It's stupid, I guess. But, like, I've kind of accepted the fact that it's happening."

"Good," he says. He's smiling. The camera can't see him: it's a wide smile, way too honest for whatever is happening right now. It makes her feel weird and wise and maybe, she thinks, maybe this is what Joy was talking about when she was like "Just be honest!" and all Seulgi could do is scowl.

For the record: their ratings are amazing. Even her Manager Oppa tells her that they're scoring points because his girlfriend really hates the show and is now hooked because solidarity or something rather.

Seulgi thinks they're all crazy.

But it doesn't mean that she doesn't move closer to Jaebum, touches his knee and then hands him the photograph, motioning for him to move it to one of their side tables by the couch.

He takes her hand and their fingers lace together, their palms pressing together too. It's all very measured, all very impractical and strange to sit here and think that it feels like the most amazing thing, just holding his hand. But Seulgi just forgets: forgets that they're idols, forgets that they're on a television show, forgets that they're not dating for real even though it feels like they are and she's suddenly really, really okay with that.

She doesn't think about it.

She's already falling and more than halfway there.

 

 

 

 

 

Joy warns her about the breaks.

In fact, so does Amber when she talks about how weird Victoria eonni was when she did her stint on the show. It's an entire conversation about how stupid the fantasy of a reality show is, which finishes with Amber patting her head, wishing well, and telling her that she's going to tell Jaebum that he has her blessing because someone has to, if anything but.

The thing is: they never exchanged numbers.

"You'll see him in a few weeks," Wendy offers sympathetically. Seulgi's expression sours in the practice room mirror. She pouts and Wendy pats her head. "You could just ask the company. Or Victoria eonni. Because, you know, the universe will totally thank you for giving her a reason to talk to Nichkhun sunbae."

Seulgi groans, burying her face in her hands. "Am I an idiot though? Like... it never really occurred to me."

"It wasn't a conversation you had?"

"Yah." Seulgi narrows her eyes at her friend. "They call us the _Awkward_ Couple. It's literally the blind leading the blind."

"Are you going to wait for him?" Wendy is gentle. Wendy is always gentle. She's sweet and silly and probably insanely better at this. "I mean, this isn't -- the company's not going to forbid you."

She doesn't know what's stopping her. If she thinks about it, all she sees is a whirlwind of weeks where she's thrown into dating someone, but not REALLY dating someone, which leads her to be envious of idols like Hani and Taeyang who have comfortably exposed their relationships to fans and media alike. Then she thinks: do I really want to date him?

"I think my biggest fear," she says quietly, "is that I want to explore something... not just sit through a stupid show and then call it a day. Does that make me weird?"

Wendy laughs, but doesn't answer her. She marches over to their bags and digs around in hers, pulling out Seulgi's phone with a triumphant grin and then a slip of paper. She moves back to where Seulgi is now sitting, legs crossed as she stretches or rather, _pretends_ stretch.

"Here."

Wendy thrusts her hand forward, the paper and phone sitting in the middle of her palm.

"Don't ever say that I don't do anything for you," she says too, and Seulgi realizes that there's a number on the piece of paper. She stares at her best friend in awe. "I have some favors that I needed to cash in on. So I did. So, I'm going to go and get us coffee and when I get back we're going to drink coffee and start practicing again. And, like, you're welcome."

Seulgi wants to tell Wendy to stop trying to be a fairy godmother. But she'd probably get smacked or something; the smile on her face is reason enough to wait though and she watches as her friend disappears, leaving her with the paper and her phone.

It takes her a minute to decide to call him, talking herself through the entire thing in her head. There's a million different questions: what if he doesn't answer? What is she going to say? What if he laughs? She feels stupid and silly and her nervous are crawling into her throat so really, she's totally sure she's going to be an idiot.

So she dials the number anyway. And gets put straight to voicemail.

"Hi," she says. "Um. I'm sure you're busy and all. I'm going to see you soon and sorry, I guess, I didn't ask for your number... because I kind of wanted it... Whatever. I'm really bad at this. But my members, and by members I mean Seungwan -- she's a romantic, you know, and thinks that the universe can be cured with romantic comedies and popcorn and stuff. Anyways. This is Seulgi. This is my number. You can call me if you want to talk."

She takes a deep breath, loud enough so that it comes through the phone line. There are butterflies in her stomach and she's sure, so sure, he's going to listen to this and laugh because she is so bad with FEELINGS because FEELINGS means she has to be awkward Seulgi and not mysterious Seulgi who does a lot better in music videos and live shows.

"Okay, well. Bye, I guess."

She hangs up and groans, burying her face against her knees and wishes for Wendy to hurry back with coffee so that she can forget how awkward and ridiculous she is without facing the fact that she called the boy, THE boy, without really taking the time to at least _plan_ what she wanted to say.

Not a moment sooner though, as she gets up stand and start playing around with the music, does her phone ring. She fumbles a little, dropping her phone. The case cracks and she curses under her breath, still picking it up without checking if everything is okay.

"Hello?"

"Hey." Jaebum's voice is low, a little on the heavier side. He's breathless like she is. "Sorry -- I was in the middle of a meeting with the CEO," he's talking quickly, "and then had to run to the car to get my script and I feel a little crazy --"

She laughs softly. "It's okay," she says gently. "You didn't have to call me back right away."

"But I wanted to," he says like it's obvious.

She swears her face is on fire.

"Sorry we didn't think to exchange numbers," he murmurs. She bites her lip and fidgets, staring at the walls. "I've been walking around, thinking about how big of an idiot I am."

Seulgi laughs a little. "Me too," she admits. "I don't know. I got used to seeing you a lot."

He laughs too. She imagines that crooked smirk, the one that tucks against the corners of his mouth that settles somewhere between a smile and something else, something that she kind of wants to call hers.

"Me too," he agrees. A door shuts on the other line. "What are you doing?"

"Rehearsing," she says. "For a company show."

"That time of year?" he asks.

Seulgi shrugs. "Sort of," she replies. "They're into doing surprise shows and stuff." He makes a sound that seems like a _huh_ , but her focus isn't even that solid. She just wants to know how to talk to him. "You should come," she says, surprising herself.

"Maybe I will." He pauses. She's unnerved by how easy it is to talk to him. She still feels awkward; she might always feel awkward. But right now, she's settled into relief. "Do you like ice cream?"

She snorts. "What kind of question is that?"

"So you do." He seems pleased and she has to laugh a little. "Good," he says. "I'm going to have our manager call yours. I get off of company stuff around ten tonight. I'll ask Jackson for a favor. I think he could probably convince Youngji to help."

Seulgi's a little more than flustered because what this sounds like is a date, even though, technically, they've been on a bunch of dates and haven't really had to call them dates.

"Is that going to be okay?" she asks and contains her excitement. Her fingers curl in the sleeves of her sweatshirt. 

"Trust me," he says.

She does. She doesn't know why. It goes against every fiber of her being to agree and to trust him. Not knowing takes away some kind of control from her and that, she thinks, has always felt unforgiving to her. The weird part is that trusting him means that she's okay with a lot more than she'd thought she'd be, that the lines are suddenly blurring, and honestly, she should just come out and say it:

_I like you._

This is their first real date, after all.

 

 

 

 

Heo Youngji is bright, charming, and hugs her when they meet outside the cafe, her parents' cafe it turns out, punching Jaebum in the arm and grinning at them as she watches their managers disappear for dinner or something rather.

"You can use the kitchen," she says, grinning. The youngest member of KARA doesn't hide her affection. She winks at Seulgi. "The ice cream is in the freezer. I have to run -- I have to get to my schedule, but my mom will grab you whatever you need."

Seulgi feels a little out of her element. "This is too much," she says awkwardly.

"He likes you," she points to Jaebum and he turns red, muttering and shuffling his sneakers against the sidewalk. "And Jackson would irritate me to death --"

"Is that what you call it?" Jaebum teases and Youngji rolls her eyes, her cheeks turning a pretty pink.

"Anyway," the other girl says. "Go secretly date I guess! Have fun!"

They wait until Youngji disappears into a car before entering the cafe. She follows Jaebum as he leads her to the back and to the kitchen, to a waiting setup of really pretty glass dishes filled with chocolate and strawberry ice cream. She looks at the strawberry in surprised, watching him as he approaches her, grabs her shoulders, and leads her to sit down.

The sundaes are sweet, a little silly, but she picks up the spoon as he sits, looking at him and then scooping up her bite of ice cream and sprinkles. It's nothing special, but the ice cream tastes like best she's ever had and maybe, maybe she's being a little dramatic, but the smile on her face comes out of nowhere, bright and brilliant and a little shy.

"This is weird," she says.

He shrugs. "I think it's nice."

Seulgi laughs and blushes, shaking her head. "I think it's nice too," she murmurs.

"I know." He takes the spoon from her and feeds her a bite of ice cream. "I don't get it either. I just know that I like being around you."

She smiles a little, not knowing what else to say. It seems like such a simple thing and she's a little jealous that suddenly, somehow, they're actually talking and it feels like it's a little easier for him.

"You're going to have to be really patient with me," she warns, just a little, then watches as some of his chocolate ice cream smears against the corner of his mouth. "I'm difficult. I'm really cranky. I'm probably the reason we're called the Awkward Couple."

He snorts and laughs.

"I think I'm just struggling," she says. Her voice softens and she leans a little closer, her knees resting against his. "Because it feels real and not real and I know things about you like how you really hate spinach and you love sleeping in on your birthday and you occasionally pretend to hate cleaning the dorm because it's a little weird that you like cleaning."

Jaebum snorts, but he's smiling and reaches forward. He grabs her hand and the ice cream is abandoned. 

"And then," she continues, "we're televised and we do couple things and it feels weird and not like we're supposed to be... but it's kind of awesome that I get to see you?"

"I like seeing you too."

And maybe it's the way that he says it, maybe it's just how he's looking at her -- soft and weird and smiley, all things that she can and cannot handle. Instead, she decides then and there to be a little braver, since he's gone out of his way and basically arranged a secret date for them. She squeeze his hand first, then pushes herself up to stand, in between his legs, moving her hand from his to resting both of them on his shoulders.

She makes a face. Then she stops making a face, sighs, and then leans in, her forehead resting against his.

"I'm going to kiss you," she tells him, basically announces, and tries not to kick herself in the process. He laughs and the sound is a little breathless. Her face feels red again too. "I don't know if it's going to be any good," she murmurs.

"I'll let you know," he says. His voice hitches and he laughs too. "I promise," he says too.

"Okay," she manages.

Her hands move from his shoulders to his face and she cups his cheeks, sliding her thumbs under his jaw. She steels herself for total failure and kind of just drops her mouth into his.

At first, neither of them move. It's a kiss, it's just a kiss, and about a million thoughts run rampant in her head. He's done this before. He might have expectations. She's got a lot to prove. But then she can't help herself and his mouth is warm as she opens her own, then he makes this sound, this breathy low sound, when she bites at his lip and his hands come up, just to rest and spread against the small of her back. They kiss slowly, purposefully, and something in her starts to ache, change, and crave the way that they suddenly press into each other. It's not the kiss that she imagined; it's something that she needed.

He breaks back first, somewhere after a long pause and all they hear in the kitchen is their breathing. The ice cream, somewhere next to them, is probably soup. That might be funny later.

But first, Jaebum smiles at her.

"Now," he says. He flicks her forehead. "You can't lose my number."

 

 

 

 

Fake married life is still weird.

She starts to get the whole 'secretly dating but not secretly dating arranged marriage but really not' thing -- in fact, she decides the whole show is just a big, giant way of spending time together and not having to hide and ask for permission to take a vacation. Yet.

"I just want a big present," Wendy tells her with so few words. She takes responsibility and that's fine, Seulgi thinks, because that's what best friends are supposed to do.

Just don't ask her, you know, how suddenly Victoria eonni ended up as one of the wedding guests on their wedding episode and _poof_! Here comes Nichkhun as Jaebum's guest too.

No spoilers.

You'll just have to watch.


End file.
